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On the day that Republicans seized control of Northampton County government, newly elected officials pledged to leave partisan politics behind in the name of public service.

A standing-room-only crowd in Northampton County Courthouse's historic Courtroom One cheered as Executive John Brown, five members of Northampton County Council and four magisterial district judges, including Downtown Easton's Antonia Grifo, swore oaths of office this afternoon.

In each oath, the elected officials were surrounded by their loved ones as President Judge Stephen Baratta half-jokingly called the ceremony a family event. He later quoted Pope Francis, President Theodore Roosevelt and late American hockey coach Herb Brooks as he implored the new officials to honor the trust voters placed in them.

"We must make our government smarter, stronger and better," Baratta said.

In his first public address as county executive, Brown thanked the people who rallied behind him over the past year during his campaign. He pledged to systematically and methodically review the process of local government and search for ways to cut expenses without eliminating services the pubic relies on.

"We have to live and work on a regional basis and we have to reach across party lines," Brown said. "I am here to serve."

After the ceremony, Northampton County Council met for its annual reorganization meeting. Councilwoman Peg Ferraro, a council veteran of 18 years entering her third consecutive term of office, was voted council president over Councilman Scott Parsons. Councilman Glenn Geissinger, a Plainfield Township resident who has never before held public office, was voted vice president over Councilman Ken Kraft. Each vote passed along party lines, 5-4.

Ferraro, 74, hoped the decision over council leadership would be the last partisan vote of the year and that elected officials would only focus on how to best serve their constituents.

"The Rs and Ds must absolutely deteriorate in order to go forward," she said.

She also said that while municipal government serves bureaucratic needs such as zoning and planning, county government is about dealing with people and touching the lives of residents.

"Not always the bottom line must be at the foremost of our decision-making," she said.

After the meeting, Brown said he will continue to review county departments as he looks to fill out his Cabinet. Brown has only nominated two candidates so far: Victor Scomillio as the next county solicitor and Robert Sletvold as the next chief public defender. There are about a dozen other positions in which Brown can place selected administrators, including county sheriff, director of human services and director of public works.

"It'll be a mix of current staffers and new faces," he said.

The reorganization meeting served as the end of an era for county council. With the addition of Geissinger, Mat Benol, Hayden Phillips and Seth Vaughn to council, no members of the legislative branch supported the failed plan to sell Gracedale in 2011. Every councilman has named improving the financial problems at the county-run nursing home as a top priority. The facility is projected to need $5.4 million in 2014.

The meeting also brings a relative lack of experience to county government. In the past six years, the council has seen longtime members such as Ron Angle, Michael Dowd, Wayne Grube and Ann McHale die, retire or lose office. By comparison, Ferraro, Parsons and Councilman Lamont McClure are the only ones who have served a full term in an elected office.